Some were picked up as teenage runaways looking for a way out of volatile homes.

Others got hooked on drugs and did whatever it took to finance their addictions, even if it meant selling their bodies.

Still others fled their native countries seeking opportunity in the land of the free, only to find themselves trapped in jobs filled with false promises and little pay, threatened with deportation if they complained or tried to leave.

The stories of how they got there are all different. But if there’s one thing that’s true about most survivors of human trafficking, it’s this: Escaping isn’t as simple as walking away.

Edee Franklin of Huntington Woods describes human trafficking as a snare of tiny strings that pulls victims back again and again.